If someone thought the pitch was playable yesterday - and you'd hope an ex player in Paddy Powell could make that call - then there would be no need for an inspection yesterday.
If there was rain overnight and that made the difference then the drainage situation is surely unsustainable and we need to do something immediately, even if a workaround.
Pretty poor show all round though, no excuse for not getting a local ref to look at it at 9am after the rain. Have every sympathy with the Barnsley CEO.
This is now beyond mere embarrassment but is beginning to be a real serious issue. Why wasn't the game called off yesterday? Were the powers that be expecting a heat wave over night? I looked at the BBC teletext at 12.00hrs and there was no indication that the game was off so assuming all was well I set off and didn't learn of the postponement until I reached Floyd Road.
The things is we are not half way through January and can't put a game on so it is fair to expect more bad weather so it can only be a matter of time before the FA intervenes and orders the club to play at another ground. What is even more crazy is that I walked back through Charlton Park and there was football being played there.
just got back from the Lib a good few in there. i picked our tickets up at 11 PM ish--i wouldnt have bothered to pick tickets up if the game was in doubt ---would have waited and ;picked em up just before the game. there was no indication at all this game was in doubt until i read it on here at 12:30. The hassle i will have geting my money back is tiny compared to those travelling from distance.
CAFC should be ashamed of itself today ---regardless of whose fault it is ---its disgraceful.
Interesting that the minute's applause was not scheduled for today. Is it not normally held on the first home game after new year?
No, it varies. It was held in January last year, but in February in 2012 and 2011.
Thank you. The reason I asked is that a friend of mine got a phone call from the club on Monday lunchtime to say that the memorial day has been put back to February 8th due to the game being in doubt.
I never believed it would be called off after the dome being put in place since the weekend
whip round to help the Barnsley fans (and our own who are considerably out of pocket) get down for the rearranged game? Bournemouth set a precedent last week.
If you were the FL/FA looking at this situation what good would a fine do if part or most of the reason is the lack of money going into pitch and grounds care? Why not force the club to spend that fine on the pitch.
Punishment for piss poor communication/organisation?
If you were the FL/FA looking at this situation what good would a fine do if part or most of the reason is the lack of money going into pitch and grounds care? Why not force the club to spend that fine on the pitch.
Punishment for piss poor communication/organisation?
I do wonder if that is in the remit of the FA/FL? Could imagine a 'verbal' warning for that. A fine would seem unlikely?
If it was the overnight rain that was the problem, an inspection yesterday would not have helped. What seems obvious to me is that if there is doubt an inspection should go ahead before way fans are likely to have set off. If that means the ref having to get out of bed early, so be it. Still need to hear the club's official line to properly judge why nobody thought to ask for that.
Sorry for the Barnsley faithful but it has happened to us in the past.
There has been a pitch problem for a very long time and sadly I imagine Paddy will be getting his P45.
Honest question - other than communication issues - what else is there 'the club' could've done to get the game on?
It's not the getting the game on that's angered people it's the letting the officials and fans know that there was a chance the pitch was unplayable . Just a hint of an inspection might have helped yet they announced it was playable on twitter .
I notice from the official website that they are calling the cover MacLeod - this is of course Charltonspeak for something that promises a lot but fails to deliver!
I have followed Football and Charlton for long enough to know that games get postponed and I can have a wasted journey-Home or Away. It is all part of the game experience I suppose and you shrug your shoulders as supporters and get on with it. But today feels different. We have already lost two games to the pitch state this week and the Club has no plan to request a Friday inspection to seek the opinion of a local Ref? Or early on Saturday? This is just poor planning, poor communication and poor regard for both sets of supporters. We need to sharpen up on the pitch as we all know-the same appears to be off it as well.
So I was wondering down to the ground with NO boards out saying the game was off, but noticed this stuck to the club shop window, on my way back home!. Felt really sorry for fans coming a long way, I felt sorry for myself to be honest?
Why do people keep saying they are embarrassed? Are you getting mixed up with 'annoyed'? I'm annoyed that the game's not on, but would rather that than another Doncaster. I get embarrassed if I trip over or if I have to stand up and talk in front of strangers. I don't get embarrassed if a referee calls my team's game off...I get annoyed.
So how long does it take to get a new drainage system installed and is it worth getting the Oxford game moved to an away fixture and postponing the next x amount of home games now?
Whole pitch has to be dug up and relaid as far as I know - not something you should do mid-season. Maybe we have to consider a ground-share until the end of the season???
Well with only one more home game this month (that'll be postponed anyway if we get to the next round of the cup) and only two in February, it's now or never.... or in the summer.
Just realised that 22nd Feb is most likely 5th round day so another possible postponement. 2/3 of the next two months home league games.
I agree with most posts here that the club has fallen well short of what we and Barnsley could reasonably have expected from them in terms of publicising any potential problems. Looking at the images of the pitch, I can see that it has been presented as well as circumstances permit for the match and that it has been aerated. The one thing I would have done differently is to have got at least two lorry loads of sand and hand spread this around the surface of the worst areas and forked it in to aid drainage. Sand on the top of the areas where the soil structure has broken down may well have eased the concerns of the ref. I know this would look poor from the stands and for TV but better that than than what has occurred.
While I am ranting about today's painful and expensive farce I note that Barnsley were informed at 11.35 that the game was in doubt. Fans got nothing for over an hour later. So much for the new digital interface for communication with supporters!!
Why do people keep saying they are embarrassed? Are you getting mixed up with 'annoyed'? I'm annoyed that the game's not on, but would rather that than another Doncaster. I get embarrassed if I trip over or if I have to stand up and talk in front of strangers. I don't get embarrassed if a referee calls my team's game off...I get annoyed.
I've had texts from 5 different comedians about our club/pitch
If you were the FL/FA looking at this situation what good would a fine do if part or most of the reason is the lack of money going into pitch and grounds care? Why not force the club to spend that fine on the pitch.
Punishment for piss poor communication/organisation?
I do wonder if that is in the remit of the FA/FL? Could imagine a 'verbal' warning for that. A fine would seem unlikely?
I would think a fine is most likely and quite appropriate. The club have allowed the pitch to deteriorate by neglect to a point where it is not fit to safely accommodate a football match if there is any bad weather at all. Pretty damning for a business that's main enterprise is putting on football matches. The communication issues completely reinforce what Airman has been saying for months and that is that Charlton are a rudderless ship with incompetents on the bridge. Embarrassing.
The refs explanation for the postponement all appears sensible - what doesn't is that call could have been made a lot earlier, and the club not announcing the inspection as soon as they knew that one was happening.
Saw a cross looking Hamer in Floyd Road driving away from the ground in Floyd Rd at c1:30 before I knew the game was off - my first assumption was that he had been dropped/sold!
I think all Barnsley fans who make the trip to the repeat fixture should have their tickets refunded even though they are in attendance, and all who can not be bothered should also have their tickets refunded.
Feel sorry for the Barnsley fans and all ours that have travelled a long way for nothing today. I drove over from Surrey so not happy bunny, but no where as bad as people like BournemouthAddick etc.
Sounds like it was known earlier that it was a consideration, why not make it public earlier?
Comments
If there was rain overnight and that made the difference then the drainage situation is surely unsustainable and we need to do something immediately, even if a workaround.
Pretty poor show all round though, no excuse for not getting a local ref to look at it at 9am after the rain. Have every sympathy with the Barnsley CEO.
The things is we are not half way through January and can't put a game on so it is fair to expect more bad weather so it can only be a matter of time before the FA intervenes and orders the club to play at another ground. What is even more crazy is that I walked back through Charlton Park and there was football being played there.
i picked our tickets up at 11 PM ish--i wouldnt have bothered to pick tickets up if the game was in doubt ---would have waited and ;picked em up just before the game.
there was no indication at all this game was in doubt until i read it on here at 12:30.
The hassle i will have geting my money back is tiny compared to those travelling from distance.
CAFC should be ashamed of itself today ---regardless of whose fault it is ---its disgraceful.
I never believed it would be called off after the dome being put in place since the weekend
Bournemouth set a precedent last week.
Sorry for the Barnsley faithful but it has happened to us in the past.
There has been a pitch problem for a very long time and sadly I imagine Paddy will be getting his P45.
We have already lost two games to the pitch state this week and the Club has no plan to request a Friday inspection to seek the opinion of a local Ref? Or early on Saturday? This is just poor planning, poor communication and poor regard for both sets of supporters.
We need to sharpen up on the pitch as we all know-the same appears to be off it as well.
Looking at the images of the pitch, I can see that it has been presented as well as circumstances permit for the match and that it has been aerated. The one thing I would have done differently is to have got at least two lorry loads of sand and hand spread this around the surface of the worst areas and forked it in to aid drainage. Sand on the top of the areas where the soil structure has broken down may well have eased the concerns of the ref.
I know this would look poor from the stands and for TV but better that than than what has occurred.
I'm embarrassed
Saw a cross looking Hamer in Floyd Road driving away from the ground in Floyd Rd at c1:30 before I knew the game was off - my first assumption was that he had been dropped/sold!
Sounds like it was known earlier that it was a consideration, why not make it public earlier?